


Unpleasant Past

by smileynerd256



Series: Space Buddies AU [5]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, creepy alien dude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 17:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10518225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smileynerd256/pseuds/smileynerd256
Summary: Vent fic. Sophie just needs a hug.





	

     The air smelled like dust and blood. Sophie’s breath wheezed, her muscles burned. Sound was muted from the ringing in her ears; that last grenade had gone off closer than she meant it to. A tall, dark being with glittering eyes emerged from the smoke and dust, arm raised, electricity arcing between its three long fingers. Sophie gripped her stained sword with her good hand, trembling from exhaustion. _How long has it been since I’ve eaten again?_  She’d been running for so long that she couldn’t remember. Everything had been a blur since Kira--she slammed a mental door on that thought as tears distorted her vision.

 

     “You cannot win this fight, Earthling. Give up, or suffer.”

 

     “I’ll suffer either way, so I might as well fight,” spat Sophie, trying to look less exhausted than she was.

 

     The being ground out a dark chuckle. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

 

     Sophie swung, but she was too slow. The creature grasped her broken wrist and--

     

 

 

Sophie jackknifed into a sitting position with an agonized scream as phantom pain lanced through her arm and chest. She clutched her wrist and tried to run but fell on her face from the-- _how the heck are my feet tied?_ She thrashed and struggled as a shadow fell over her; the creature was about to hurt her again and she _couldn’t move _,__ and where was her sword--? In desperation, she threw a punch in the creature’s general direction. Her fist hit something solid, and the creature fell back. Sophie finally untangled her feet and ran, terrified that it would catch up and she would have to feel that _pain_  again--

 

“Sophie! Sophie, can you hear me?”

 

Sophie blinked in confusion. _Ford? What...how…what’s he doing here?_  She turned and saw him reach out and grasp her arm, trying to slow her down.

 

She tugged away. “Ford, Ford, we can’t slow down, th-there’s this--creature behind us, it has electricity and it hurts and if we stop then it will kill us and--and--”

 

Ford tightened his grip on her arm. “Sophie, look at me.”

 

Sophie tugged harder. “We can’t! We can’t stop, the creature is right…right…” She blinked in confusion. All around her were large, red rock formations that curled like petrified tidal waves. There was no trace of the city, or the creature that had been chasing her. Her eyes rested on her wrist; it was whole and unbroken. She took short, ragged gasps, unable to slow her pounding heart as new fear gripped her. “Wha--what--? Where am I? What’s going on, is--Is this some kind of trick? Are you even real? Is-is _any_  of this real?!”

 

“Sophie, you had a nightmare.”

 

“I-I-I don’t know--”

 

“You need to breathe.”

 

“F-ford--”

 

“Breathe in and count to six.”

 

“W-what’s the first joke I told you?”

 

Ford blinked.

 

     “Please…I need you to say it.”

 

     Ford furrowed his brow. “It was…sneakers?” He shook his head. “No wait, it was ‘What do you call a frilly sneaker?’”

 

“Lacy.” Sophie slumped into Ford’s arms.

 

“That’s it, kid, you’re safe.”

 

Sophie clung to Ford’s coat, trembling.

 

“You still need to breathe, though. Count with me.”

 

Sophie was able to get her breathing under control after a few minutes. Ford led her back to their campsite and handed Sophie her canteen.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Sophie shuddered.

 

“You don’t have to if--”

 

“I know, but…I think I need to.” She swiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “It wasn’t too long after I lost Kira. There was this…creature that was hunting me. I guess word got around pretty fast that I was still alive and the Federation had a price on my head.”

 

Ford frowned. “How old were you?”

 

Sophie bit her lip. “Fourteen.”

 

“Yeesh.”

 

“Heh, yeah. Anyway, that thing caught up to me, and it had some kind of space taser glove that it used to…” Sophie shuddered and rubbed her wrist. “It captured me. I got away eventually, but…it wasn’t a great memory to relive.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my gosh, I punched you, didn’t I?”

 

“It’s fine, you were acting out of instinct while reliving a terrible memory; I think that’s a good enough excuse.”

 

“Did it hurt?”

 

Ford shrugged. “It just knocked the wind out of me for a bit.”

 

“Sorry,” Sophie mumbled.

 

Ford gave an encouraging smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

 

Sophie let out a humorless laugh. “I’m actually pretty messed up, but I’m glad you’re here to keep me from going completely nuts.”

 

“Uh, thanks. And if it’s any consolation, you keep me sane as well.”

 

“I do?” Sophie grinned. “I thought I drove you crazy.”

 

“Well…that, too. But aside from your incurable urge to tease and your…abysmal puns, you make pretty good company.”

 

“Aw, you’re just saying that because I’m the only human you’ve seen in who knows how long.”

 

“I’m saying that because it’s true.”

 

“Well than, outside of your magnetism to anything that’s likely to eat us and pick its teeth with our bones, I’d say that you’re pretty decent company, too.”

 

Ford held up his index finger. “That was one time!”

 

Sophie rolled her eyes. “That was one of several times; I lost count after twenty.”

 

Ford shook his head and sighed. “Well, now that you’re back to your usual self, should we get going?”

 

Sophie reached into her pack. “Breakfast first, genius.”  


End file.
